How to fly in a "no Fly zone"

I hate being told where I can and cannot fly. I don't mind rules and regulation and I don't mind adhering to them but I hate being told by the manufacturer of equipment I have bought where I can use that equipment AFTER I Have bought it.

That said this weekend I had to fly for a fully sanctioned job at an International airport. The CAA were my clients along with the Airport itself.

I explained that I couldn't fly at their facility and they were somewhat bemused. But you are fully sanctioned and your aircraft has permission to fly from the tower. You will be in contact with the tower and as a certified helicopter pilot PPLH you are familiar with the radio and airspace protocol.
No I'm sorry I cant fly DJI say so .... actually when I check I can fly right at the end of the runway right at the threshold where there is arguably the most danger ... but I can fly over the ramps where there is arguably the least. That's because DJI don't apply any common sense to where the no fly zone is ... The epicenter of the restricted zone is skewed at this airport so Bizarrely DJI allow me to fly on an active runway go figure.

So as a grown man able to use cognitive thought and with permission I had to work out how to fly in a no fly zone. I tried many ways to prevent the gps getting its signal but it would always find satellites. In the end the solution was a simple one. Remove the top cover and disconnect the gps sensor. it was easy, a small connector just pops out. Now the Inspire doesn't know where it is and I am able to fly in ATTI mode.

The bad thing is that it is always windy, 25 knots ... the inspire handles it with help from GPS. In atti mode it was difficult to maintain the smooth and safe flight I would get with GS hold assistance. I was fully immersed in flying while my cameraman operated the camera.

It worked but frankly was a struggle and the flight was made considerably more risky by not having the GPS assist. So DJI your forced upgrade and forced no fly zone actually resulted in more danger.

Staff Member

I understand your disappointment. A no fly zone was actually placed near my house where there was an old sky diving field that is no longer in use. It is now used to store equipment and they have festivals there. Needless to say, I was not happy and also had to find away around it. I did not want to take it all apart so I made a little hat for mine. It is a piece of tin foil I just tape to the top whenever I fly near the old air strip. Works 100% of the time. Looks silly but hey...

Staff Member

I hate being told where I can and cannot fly. I don't mind rules and regulation and I don't mind adhering to them but I hate being told by the manufacturer of equipment I have bought where I can use that equipment AFTER I Have bought it.

That said this weekend I had to fly for a fully sanctioned job at an International airport. The CAA were my clients along with the Airport itself.

I explained that I couldn't fly at their facility and they were somewhat bemused. But you are fully sanctioned and your aircraft has permission to fly from the tower. You will be in contact with the tower and as a certified helicopter pilot PPLH you are familiar with the radio and airspace protocol.
No I'm sorry I cant fly DJI say so .... actually when I check I can fly right at the end of the runway right at the threshold where there is arguably the most danger ... but I can fly over the ramps where there is arguably the least. That's because DJI don't apply any common sense to where the no fly zone is ... The epicenter of the restricted zone is skewed at this airport so Bizarrely DJI allow me to fly on an active runway go figure.

So as a grown man able to use cognitive thought and with permission I had to work out how to fly in a no fly zone. I tried many ways to prevent the gps getting its signal but it would always find satellites. In the end the solution was a simple one. Remove the top cover and disconnect the gps sensor. it was easy, a small connector just pops out. Now the Inspire doesn't know where it is and I am able to fly in ATTI mode.

The bad thing is that it is always windy, 25 knots ... the inspire handles it with help from GPS. In atti mode it was difficult to maintain the smooth and safe flight I would get with GS hold assistance. I was fully immersed in flying while my cameraman operated the camera.

It worked but frankly was a struggle and the flight was made considerably more risky by not having the GPS assist. So DJI your forced upgrade and forced no fly zone actually resulted in more danger.

Click to expand...

Hmmmmm....interesting post.
Whilst I would not condone anybody and everybody overriding the no-fly zones, like you I have CAA approval to fly commercially.
There are legitimate times (like you have demonstrated) where flying in an ATZ close to an airport might be required.
The problem DJI have is how they would 'police' a request to 'turn off' the restriction for certified pilots.
I did wonder whether unplugging the GPS module might have thrown up an error message but I guess not.
Even easier is Mazz's idea of a tin hat!

Additionally, people should be aware that there is no return to home when flying like this! I know that may sound obvious but it may not be to everyone.

We would never condone flying irresponsibly and there is the potential for this 'workaround' to allow people to fly in some REALLY stupid places that they should never be!

With the subject matter of this thread, it could get out of hand so Mazz and I will keep an eye on it.

Hmmmmm....interesting post.
Whilst I would not condone anybody and everybody overriding the no-fly zones, like you I have CAA approval to fly commercially.
There are legitimate times (like you have demonstrated) where flying in an ATZ close to an airport might be required.
The problem DJI have is how they would 'police' a request to 'turn off' the restriction for certified pilots.
I did wonder whether unplugging the GPS module might have thrown up an error message but I guess not.
Even easier is Mazz's idea of a tin hat!

Click to expand...

Worked perfectly fine on my P2, didnt use it on the I1 yet! The whole compass thing pissed me off a long time ago, and learned a few BETA tricks of my own, much on that later. As I don't need DJI knocking on my door

I tried the Tin Hat approach with no luck, also I was concerned, rightly so, that should the inspire have acquired a gps signal whilst in the air it would have landed immediately with potentially disastrous consequences.
I, like Ed, also expected GPs disconnect to throw up an error, however it merely didn't establish satellite acquisition.

Also worth pointing out that the flying was seriously challenging, high winds can see an error or moment of distraction end up in the Inspire being a long way away from you in a couple of seconds. I consider myself a reasonably skilled and aware pilot and trust me I had to concentrate 100% on flying and not monitoring what was on the camera. I had a great camera op to do that for me.

Ed makes a very good point for anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they have all the permissions and have to switch off the GPS ......... all the failsafes are gone ..... when it gets away t really gets away and there is no home point .... no tracking and you had better be able to fly that thing well ...... It really is not for novices in anything other than perfect conditions.

As many others have advised on this forum .... Practice in ATTI mode ... because some day your going to lose your gps signal when you least expect it and your going to need it!

Do not switch off your GPS unless you have full co-operation with the authority that controls the airspace you are flying in. and then take a deep breath grow some huge balls .... and go for it!.

I hate being told where I can and cannot fly. I don't mind rules and regulation and I don't mind adhering to them but I hate being told by the manufacturer of equipment I have bought where I can use that equipment AFTER I Have bought it.

That said this weekend I had to fly for a fully sanctioned job at an International airport. The CAA were my clients along with the Airport itself.

I explained that I couldn't fly at their facility and they were somewhat bemused. But you are fully sanctioned and your aircraft has permission to fly from the tower. You will be in contact with the tower and as a certified helicopter pilot PPLH you are familiar with the radio and airspace protocol.
No I'm sorry I cant fly DJI say so .... actually when I check I can fly right at the end of the runway right at the threshold where there is arguably the most danger ... but I can fly over the ramps where there is arguably the least. That's because DJI don't apply any common sense to where the no fly zone is ... The epicenter of the restricted zone is skewed at this airport so Bizarrely DJI allow me to fly on an active runway go figure.

So as a grown man able to use cognitive thought and with permission I had to work out how to fly in a no fly zone. I tried many ways to prevent the gps getting its signal but it would always find satellites. In the end the solution was a simple one. Remove the top cover and disconnect the gps sensor. it was easy, a small connector just pops out. Now the Inspire doesn't know where it is and I am able to fly in ATTI mode.

The bad thing is that it is always windy, 25 knots ... the inspire handles it with help from GPS. In atti mode it was difficult to maintain the smooth and safe flight I would get with GS hold assistance. I was fully immersed in flying while my cameraman operated the camera.

It worked but frankly was a struggle and the flight was made considerably more risky by not having the GPS assist. So DJI your forced upgrade and forced no fly zone actually resulted in more danger.

Click to expand...

I thought when you switched the Inspire to Atti mode it cuts off the GPS. Or does it?

I tried many ways to prevent the gps getting its signal but it would always find satellites. In the end the solution was a simple one. Remove the top cover and disconnect the gps sensor. it was easy, a small connector just pops out. Now the Inspire doesn't know where it is and I am able to fly in ATTI mode.

Click to expand...

There's many a problem solved with an tin foil cod-piece and hat. In this case, just the hat is required, although you could wear the cod-piece for dramatic effect.

I wrote about this for the ARPAS UK newsletter a couple of months ago. It's really not a good idea for DJI to implement a partial or inaccurate solution -- in the case in point that I wrote about, there is no-fly zone around the White House in DC that's specified by DJI that is a circle of the wrong size and centered around the wrong place compared to the FAA's no-fly zone. They're off by around three miles in terms of the center. Here's what I wrote:

DJI’s move is heavy-handed, inappropriate, and plain wrong – if nothing else because “DJI is continuing to update its no fly zone list to include sensitive institutions and national borders in compliance with local regulations.” Does DJI have the regulatory authority to do this? What happens if pilots have permission or have been requested by the institutions to overfly them?

The heavy-handedness and plain wrongness is further illustrated because DJI’s No Fly Zones do not actually match the FAA’s regulations. Let’s take the White House as an example: DJI’s restriction, according to the press release, is “centered on the White House and extends for a 25 kilometer (15.5 mile) radius in all directions.” However, the actual FAA’s Flight Restricted Zone (FRZ, “freeze”) actually extends “approximately 13–15 nautical miles (15–17 statute miles) around the VOR/DME located at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.” But the airport’s VOR/DME is 2.69 miles south of the White House, so DJI’s No Fly Zone is not only the wrong size but also is offset by 2.69 miles.​

Clearly DJI is going to have to have an ongoing maintenance effort to fix the errors in the database and try and keep it current. I hope.....

I suspect sooner or later they will abandon this no-fly database because, at least in the USA, there are approximately 15,095 airfields many of which are not even in the database -- and these include airfields with commercial traffic, not just general aviation and gliding.

Not that I've come up against a non fly zone situation but if I did, Im thinking that flying a different A/C without the restrictions (my S800 comes to mind) is the safest way to go... You get GPS and it's RTF function, stable flight in windy conditions. OK not pilot app, but I wouldn't miss that given basic telemetry can still be obtained without it.

I understand your disappointment. A no fly zone was actually placed near my house where there was an old sky diving field that is no longer in use. It is now used to store equipment and they have festivals there. Needless to say, I was not happy and also had to find away around it. I did not want to take it all apart so I made a little hat for mine. It is a piece of tin foil I just tape to the top whenever I fly near the old air strip. Works 100% of the time. Looks silly but hey...

Click to expand...

Any chance you could post a picture of your hat..Not sure if I would ever need it but good info to have....
Thanks

Got my cell blocker pouch today from Amazon, took it apart and took the cloth part that blocks the gps signal it works great. I think much better than tin foil. 0 satellites with it over the top. Took it off got full gps signal put it back on and immediately went to 0 satellites.